“Cowboycore” And The Need For Authenticity In Menswear
Have you guys heard of “cowboycore”? It’s basically a trend that is gaining traction in menswear that emphasizes things like cowboy hats, boots, big belt-buckles, denim shirts, and stuff like that. It’s very costume-y.
Apparently this was something that was prevalent at Pitti Uomo recently and I only knew about from a handful of Instagram pages I follow. It seemed a bit niche so I had a chuckle at it and then disregarded it. That was until I popped into the office the other day and saw it in the wild.
There was a guy in my office building (not with my company) who was wearing a humongous cowboy hat (inside).
Now, did his outfit look bad? No. It was actually rather coherent. Along with his big hat, he wore jeans and a plaid shacket-type-overshirt. So, the outfit was put together thoughtfully and made sense all together. But it was so completely detached from reality. I mean, the guy works in an office in New York City, for goodness’ sake.
This brings me to the broader point about authenticity when it comes to menswear. There needs to be SOME authenticity in what we wear in order to look good, right?
I posted a comment on one of the Instagram accounts that mentioned “cowboycore” and said that dressing like a cowboy at Pitti is no different than dressing like an astronaut or a vampire. It’s so wildly out of sync with the time and place that, at that point, it’s simply a costume.
The owner of the page countered by asking, rhetorically, if all the things we wear are, at the heart, nothing more than costumes, insinuating that wearing a sport coat to the office, because you want to be viewed as mature and responsible, is the same thing as wearing “cowboycore” at Pitti.
And my response to that is… no. They aren’t. I mean, they’re “costumes” in the sense that they are pieces of clothing we put on in order to look a certain way. But that clothing and the reasons for putting them on exist on a pretty broad spectrum with my tweed jacket on one end and cowboy/astronaut/vampire on the other.
While the things we wear that make us feel and appear a certain way are all technically costumes, dressing as a cowboy in a NYC office is in its own league. And I think most reasonable people can agree on that.
I contend that there needs to be some level of authenticity in what we wear in order for it to look good. It’s not just about WHAT you wear, it’s also WHEN, WHERE, and WHY.
Years ago, I lived in NYC and then in the suburbs (but still commuted into the city every day). Since I was into menswear at that point, I had a handful of items that were a bit more rugged and practical for country living, rather than urban/suburban living (like many guys do). Things like heavy boots, field jackets, and yes, wide-brimmed hats.
I had no real use for those items where I lived. Those items never got used for their intended purposes. But I still wore them simply because I liked them.
Now, let me be clear that there was nothing wrong with me wearing those items simply because I liked them. I mean, most of the stuff we wear comes from somewhere totally detached from our current world (for example, chinos and white undershirts come from the military, tweed jackets come from hunting and equestrian, leather jackets come from aviation, etc).
BUT… now that I live in the country and actually use those items the way they were intended, those items look much better.
I now wear those items authentically and I look much better wearing them for that reason. My boots are scuffed, my field jacket’s pockets are filled with wood-chips, and my wide-brimmed hats are stained with sweat and bug-spray.
Those items are now an authentic part of me. But here’s the thing… even though I can wear those items with authenticity I STILL DON’T WEAR THEM TO THE OFFICE!
Why? Because WHERE and WHY you wear something contributes to whether it’s authentic or not. Yes, my boots/jacket/hat are authentic in a general sense, but they would be an affectation in a NYC office environment, even for me. So, when I go into the office, I put on a collared shirt, a sport coat, and some respectable trousers because that’s what the day calls for.
The guy wearing his cowboy hat inside his office has no actual need for that hat for that activity. Wearing something just because you like it only takes you so far. And a cowboy hat in a NYC office is too far.
How do you achieve authenticity in what you wear, though?
Well, you’re going to have actually DO stuff! And by that, I mean you can’t just think of clothes as an end. You need to look at them as tools to help you get stuff done. The clothes, themselves, aren’t the “activity”.
If you just wear a cowboy hat and think that the cowboy hat itself will make you look cool, you’re missing a huge part of WHY cowboy hats look cool. They’re cool because of the stuff people DO while wearing them. Things like rough-and-tumble outdoor activities in driving rain or snow or blazing sun. Working with one’s hands and using real-world skills. Engaging in pursuits like those will make the cowboy hat look cool because it will be authentic. You’ll wear it with confidence (which you can’t fake). Even though I love wearing my Schott Perfecto motorcycle jacket and I think I look great in it, it would definitely look even better if I actually rode a motorcycle.
Just the other day, I was filling up my truck and the guy at the next pump complimented my boots. As we chatted I told him the place I bought them gives discounts on steel-toed boots. He then asked if I actually needed boots with steel-toes to which I replied “Yes” since I do a ton of wood-chopping.
It was honest curiosity on his part and he was just making polite conversation when he asked, but it was essentially a moment when he wondered whether or not I was wearing the boots authentically. It would have been weird if I had to admit that I had no real reason to wear this specific item.
And I know that the opinion of some random dude at the gas station shouldn’t dictate what I wear or what I feel good wearing, but if you make it a habit of wearing clothes inauthentically, you’ll always be opening yourself up to questions like “Why are you wearing that?”
Overall, dressing inauthentically puts too much focus on the clothes and not enough focus on what you need to get done in the moment. The guy in the cowboy hat in the office is mainly focused on wearing a cowboy hat, not getting his work done. If he were actually focused on getting his work done, he would dress the way a person working in a NYC office dresses.
Also, where you live (and what you do) is going to steer your wardrobe in some way. Just like living in the south means you probably won’t be wearing as much heavy outerwear as those in the north, living in the city and working an office job means you probably won’t be wearing as much rugged workwear as someone who lives in the country and spends a lot of time outside.
Conversely, if you love tailoring but live in a rural area, your double-breasted, pinstripe suit is going to seem a little inauthentic if you wear it around town, unless there’s actually a good reason to. If you wear it simply because you like it, you’ll look just as weird as Cowboy-Hat-In-The-Office Guy.
It might be a bit of a bummer, but that’s just reality.
I can hear the groans of “I’ll dress however I want! I don’t care what anyone else thinks!”
And to that, I always call BS. One of the biggest reasons why we wear the things we wear is because of how we believe we are perceived by others. That belief forms the basis for what we think is attractive.
At the heart of trends like “cowboycore” is the belief that “if I wear this, I will look cool”. Why? Because cowboys are thought of as cool! They’re seen as manly and adventurous. So, when we look at a cowboy hat we think it looks cool because it conjures up mental images of ACTUAL cowboys!
But what those mental images have that WE lack (when we wear those items in the wrong context) is authenticity.
There’s a well-known idiom: “all hat and no cattle”. It means someone who is phony. It means they “dress up” like something they’re not. It means they aren’t authentic.
“Cowboycore” is an almost literal example of that. It’s people dressing up in a way that is nothing more than costume because there is no earthly reason why they would need to dress that way. And in the case of wearing it at Pitti, I can guarantee there were no actual cowboys there.
Dressing “well”, or more specifically, stylishly or elegantly is more than just taking a piece of cloth that you think is pretty and draping it on your body. As adults, we have long grown out of the impulse to put on costumes outside of Halloween. We have learned that there is an unspoken conversation that happens between us and others when we wear what we wear. To dress inauthentically deliberately, and sometimes crassly, ignores that subtle conversation and the need for others to determine our honesty and reliability at a glance.
People are remarkably good at sniffing out inauthenticity. It’s evolution. And it doesn’t mean those people are ignorant or close-minded. So, if you’re wearing something inauthentically, don’t be surprised when your outfit doesn’t exactly “land” or look (or feel) as good as you hoped it would.
Your clothes need to serve some sort of function in order to look authentic.
Is it hot and sunny? Then a wide-brimmed hat makes sense.
Is it cold and snowy? Then heavy boots make sense.
Are you in a NYC office? Then some sort of business-casual ensemble makes sense.
Someone who is considered “well-dressed” knows how to take lots of different factors into consideration when crafting an outfit. And they understand that there might be limits on what they will and will not look good in within a certain situation.
Authenticity isn’t something you can fake, so don’t try. I always say that you need to look at clothes as the tools that accompany you on the adventures of life. If you treat them that way you’ll always look authentic in whatever you wear.
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